The Travelers
by Shiro Bi
Summary: Alanna of Trebond was riding her faithful mare, Moonlight, through the forest on her way home. Suddenly two strangers fell from the trees.


5:30 AM

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

_Thwack!_

Rolling over, my black PJ shirt slid up my back to show my pale skin. "Crystal! Wake up!" Startled, I hit the floor and cursed under my breath, "What do you want now Katlynn?" I demanded, glaring icily at the mirror hung above my desk. My reflection danced in the mirror like I was trying to look at myself. "Well good morning to you too bright eyes. I wanted to tell you that you should wear your plaid blue skirt, with your white button up top. Geez" Katlynn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "What are we in an anime comic? I think not." I liked the idea, but I wasn't sure if mom would, even though my mom was the best I would ever have. Katlynn argued, "Your mom won't care. She was the one who got you the outfit. Besides, it could come in use for some things at school if ya know what I mean." She winked at me and we laughed while I got dressed. Sitting down at my desk I began to put on my black eyeliner. "Hey Crystal, do you ever get crushes?" asked Katlynn, it was strange how she asked but I let it pass to answer her question. "Well, I believe every human gets a crush or two in their lives. I personally have a crush on someone right now." Blushing under my heavy makeup I quickly fixed my short blue hair into spikes and grabbed my school bag. "I'll see you in a bit Katlynn." "Bye!" Katlynn yelled after me.

My long pale legs walked into the school building confidently showing with pride. So was the rest of me, but I didn't show it. My drama teacher had always said I was a very good actress. The warning bell rang and I hurried to my first period class, Mr. McGreevy's French Class. "Bonjour Class!" Mr. McGreevy snapped. "Bonjour Monsieur!" replied the class. The balding, chubby and badly dressed man went into a French lecture about France and how the French people are to be respected while visiting. After an hour of repeats and written randomness the bell rang for first lunch. "Hey! Crystal hey!" my best friend ran up behind me a tackled me in a hug. I laughed, saying, "Hey there Anna!" Anna and I have been best friends ever since I moved here from Ridgecrest California. Anna was the only person I had told my secret to, that I am a Witch.

In Ridgecrest I was alone and I wanted someone to talk to other than my mother. I chuckled to myself at the thought. When one day I was looking in one of my spell books my father had left me. Mother and I had just finished arguing about how I "needed" friends. In my spell book there was a chapter about duplicating people, 3D images, and stuff like that. I thought about how cool it would be to have some sort of twin to do stuff with and to share secrets with. So I tried a spell. Got the right ingredients, said the right chants at the right time. The spell book said that there would be oblivious pains, but there were none. At first I thought the spell didn't work, and as I sat in front of my mirror I began to cry. Then, Katlynn wiped away her tears. Yes the spell worked, but not entirely. She can only be seen in my mirror reflection, and yes it does sound strange but it's true.

Sitting down to lunch with Anna and the gang, I glanced over at Gavin. The cutest, sweetest, and smartest boy in the entire school, I would do anything to get him, well almost anything anyways. "Crystal!" Anna gaped at me wide eyed and looked at my shirt. I looked down and blushed red as a beet, for there on the front of my white shirt was a big red blob of ketchup. "NO! Crap, crap, crap!" I jumped up, grabbed my coat and as I rushed to the bathroom threw it on. Unbuttoning my shirt I looked in the mirror at Katlynn, "Now what do I do?" my eyes were starting to water as I took my shirt off, turned the sink on cold, and stuffed my shirt in the sink. Anna came in with her bag and started rummaging around in it. "Well, you can borrow an extra shirt from me if you want," suggested Anna, "but I'm not sure if it'll go with your outfit for today." Anna sighed as she pulled out the light blue shirt with the teddy bear head on the chest. Katlynn looked at her then cleared her throat. "What is it now Katlynn?" I snapped at her with tears streaming down my face. She looked like she wanted to hit me as she said, "I swear it's like you keep forgetting what you are. Hello! Magic, you have powers use them."

At First I had no idea what she was talking about, then it hit me and I calmed down and cheered up. "I know," I lied, "I was just testing you two, good job Katlynn." Blushing I took my shirt and laid it out on the counter pointing at it. I felt silly at first then remembered to clear my head and see what I wanted to happen. I saw my white shirt absolutely spotless and dry; a tingle stretched itself down my arm and out of my finger, I took a peek and saw a silvery-green light twirl around the shirt cleansing it. When my magic was done it made a humorous tiny ding as though it were a washer. Chuckling under my breath I put my shirt back on, fixed my eyeliner, and walked out of the bathroom like nothing happened. '_I love my magic_' I thought to myself as I walked down the hall. Then, over the school speakers, "_Crystal Jonson, please come to the principal's office immediately. Crystal Jonson, please come to the principal's office immediately." _"Crap." I said as I turned around and headed for the main office. When I got there Anna was coming out of the principal's office looking paler than usual. "Miss Jonson," the cold voice belonged to a tall and thin lady, her graying hair, in a tight bun at the bottom of her long neck, was starting to undo itself. Ms. Crabtree was her name, her long fingers and even longer nails carved into my shoulder as she pulled me into her office. "You have been chosen."

No emotion on her face told me that she was joking; I began debating whether or not she had finally gone batty. As my mouth gaped open and closed like a fish Ms. Crabtree began to explain. "Every twelve years there is an offer to one person and one person alone to enter another world and live as one of them for a year. You have been requested by their council, why I'm not certain. The Council of Tortall will be lending you a guide to help you on your journey and also agreed to 'slightly bend the rules'" She air quoted the words, "so that you may bring a person of your choice to come with you. Your family would be informed about your trip, and you would need to pack little for people in their world are not what you would call modern." Ms. Crabtree paused to take a breath and watch my reaction. After a moment of silence she added. "It's alright if you don't want to go. The council and I would understand, but keep in mind, this is a once in a life time opportunity."

I could hardly believe what she was saying. Now if she had said there was an angry mob of vampires and werewolves outside my house I would have believed her, it wouldn't have been the first time and it certainly wouldn't have been the last. But this, this was just ridiculous; another world not as modern as this one? I thought of something and asked "Would I be able to remember everything that happened?" Ms. Crabtree took a moment to think, and then replied slowly, "Well, I suppose it really depends on what happens. Before you make the return trip here you have the option of having your memories erased or not, and only the memories from that year would be removed." I thought this over and over in my head. Finally I said "I need to pee, may I go to the bathroom?" Okay, I admit it was not the smartest thing for me to say right then but I panicked. With her permission I left her office and hurried to the bathroom, went into a stall, locked it and pulled my hand mirror out of the purse I carried. Katlynn didn't need to ask, didn't need to argue, and didn't hesitate as she said, "Do it." That was that, no need for further conversation. I walked back to Ms. Crabtree's office, sat down in the chair, looked at her, and said, "Let's get started."


End file.
